UPDATE: Since speaking to Billboard on Friday afternoon (Nov. 18), Vince Neil discovered that his invitation to perform at the inauguration was not a done deal. “I was asked to do the inauguration two months ago no matter who won,” he told TMZ. “As far as I knew, we were playing. It turns out when the Republicans won, we were uninvited. I didn’t know about the Democratic part of asking us to play. I assumed … it didn’t matter who won, it would still be a party. I guess there is more politics in bands playing than I thought there was. I just found out about this today when all this stuff came out when I was playing. I asked my guys, and they said once Trump won, it was all politics. I don’t know who’s playing Trump’s party, but God bless them.”
Vince Neil says he’s set to perform at the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington D.C. on January 20.
The singer tells Billboard he was asked about his availability “months ago.” The longtime Motley Crue frontman will be performing with his own band. Neil is also set to appear on the next season of Celebrity Apprentice with Arnold Schwarzenegger, airing on NBC this January.
“The promoters asked if I was available, and I said yes,” Neil reveals. “So we sent all of the band’s passports to the Secret Service so everybody can get in, and all of the crew people, not knowing who was winning. But we were already scheduled to play.”
Neil said he was amused the night of the third debate in Las Vegas, when a guest that resembled him appeared at the end, igniting a debate on Twitter as to whether he was there. Even his 83-year-old mother believed it.
“My mom called me, and said, ‘I saw you shaking Donald Trump’s hand!’ [But] I wasn’t there! … The funny thing is I was invited to go and I just decided not to and watch it from home,” he says. “I think just because there was a guy with long blonde hair from Las Vegas, it’s got to be Vince Neil, right? ‘Hey, Vince, you shaved!’ Not really.”
As for what other bands are confirmed — or what he will perform, Neil says he’s still unsure.
“I don’t know how long I have to play. I don’t know if the Republican Party says which [songs] to play and what not to do,” he says. “It’s a little ways out. I’ll have more information as time goes on.”